It Happened One Morning
by Joanna Grant
Summary: Posted with permission from Terri.    Sequel to Karen's It Happened One Night. Logan and Rogue meet up with some leather-wearing weirdos and assorted bad guys but they pretty much keep their sense of humor about it all :


Title: It Happened One Morning

Author: Terri

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I don't own them. Has anyone seen them up for sale on e-bay?

Archive: Peep Hut - anyone else, please ask :)

Feedback: Please! With a cherry on top? Good, bad, and ugly welcome

Summary: Sequel to Karen's It Happened One Night. Logan and Rogue meet up with some leather-wearing weirdos and assorted bad guys but they pretty much keep their sense of humor about it all :)

Comments: Thanks to Karen for letting me play in her universe and for betaing this one.

"How much longer, do you think?"

"Dunno. But not that far. Can't be any more than another fifteen kilometers or so." Talk 'bout a helluva wake-up call. Big-ass furry mutie rips the door right offa the camper and grabs for Marie. He musta been some kinda super-mutant 'cause even I couldn't kick his ass. Got in a coupla good ones, but then he hit me with that tree..

"K-Kay.." Shit, she's fuckin' freezin'. And rubbin' her head. I know she's probably downplayin' how much it hurt to touch that asshole with her skin. She didn't have any other choice, though - I was out and the damn camper caught fire when the dumbass furball broke the propane tank over my head. Asshole. Now I'm minus one camper on toppa everythin' else. "You don't th-think he's still out here, do you?"

"Dunno." She didn't hang on long enough to kill him, just enough to put him out for a while. If he woke up in the past coupla hours and has any trackin' skills whatsoever, he'll find us. And I'll be ready for his mangy ass this time. Marie's not gonna be left to her own defenses again. No way.

"You're just a font of information, aren't you?" Heh. At least she feels OK enough to tease me.

"Hey, I knew where the next town was, didn't I? We could be walkin' out here in the snow in circles if it wasn't for me."

"Yeah, yeah." Smilin' through those blue lips. Christ, we gotta come up on that town soon or she's gonna catch pneumonia or somethin'. "Just buy me a big, hot cup of coffee when we get there and we'll call it even." She's gonna need more than coffee. Gotta get some food inta her soon. Accordin' to her, she's had one hamburger and half a bag of beef jerky in the past few days. That ain't gonna cut it. "I mean, uh, you don't have to, you know, b-buy me food and things or - "

"Look, since we're - since we're walkin' along here, maybe we should just discuss a few things." 'Cause I bet she's thinkin' - well, I dunno what she's thinkin'. And I ain't big on talkin', but I guess that's the only way to find some shit out.

"I was just joking when I said about buying me coffee. Really. I - I - have the money from the, uh, dance back there." OK, now she feels bad. Great. Say somethin', Logan.

"I was thinkin' you needta eat, Marie. You're probably starvin' and this little constitutional through four inches of snow ain't gonna make you any healthier. You need food, not just coffee." Now that we're not bein' attacked and I'm not lustin' after her for two seconds, it occurs to me that there's probably a lotta stuff she needs. She definitely needs clothes - she can keep my jacket if she wants, but she needs warmer gloves, a thick sweater, some thermals, a hat, maybe a scarf. She needs better shoes too - bet those ain't even close to waterproof.

"Well, I am hungry but I can - I can buy us both some food. As a 'thank you' for helping me out, I could buy us both dinner."

"Yeah, that's what I wanted to discuss." There, that sounded good. Rational. Civilized. "I think you should just hang onta your money. I got a couple thousand between what I had in my pockets and what I managed to save from the camper."

"B-but you'll need a new truck or something. A car, at least. Won't you need the money for that? I mean, sure, it's scenic and all, but walking across Canada in November - it just doesn't sound like a great idea at the moment, you know?"

Shit, she's right. I am gonna need a new car or somethin'. It ain't like I had uninsured mutant coverage on that camper. Fuck. "Didn't think 'bout that."

"Um, I can contribute what's left over after dinner to the car fund."

"Yeah. Might hafta take you up on that. Sorry. I'll pay ya back." I'm gonna hafta catch back up to the circuit and get in a few good fights before we'll have enough to be back on our feet.

"Oh, it's no problem. It seemed like - it seemed like that guy was after me. It's probably my fault that he d-did that. God, who would've ever thought a girl with life-sucking skin would be so popular?" Well, I can see why everyone would want her. Nobody's gonna get her. I got her. "Hey, look - is that the town up ahead?"

"Yeah." Whew. It's about fuckin' time. If I remember right, there's a restaurant here and everythin'. Gotta get her outta the cold. Gotta get some food in her, pronto. Gotta warm her up. 'Cause I got her. She's mine, and that means I gotta take care of her.

"You warmin' up, darlin'?" Noddin'. Whew. She's lookin' better now that we're inside. But where's that damn waitress? Marie needs food.

"Hello, have you two decided?" Speak of the devil. Or the waitress. You know, whatever.

"Yeah. We'll both have coffee. And we'll both have a bowl of the chicken noodle soup. Gimme your beef stew too. Two steak sandwiches with fries, and get her a salad too."

"What kind of dressing do you like, honey?"

"The house dressing is fine."

"Gotcha. Comin' up." Waitress looks like she's been here all her life. Don't move too fast either.

"So, do you think we'll have enough food?" Teasin'. "Because there *are* some things on the menu you didn't order. And thanks for, you know, relieving me of the burden of actually selecting my own food. Wouldn't want to strain myself there."

"Uh, well, it's just that you look kinda pale and I know you haven't been eatin' much lately. I wanted to make sure you got good food in ya. I thought you might try to just order a little or somethin' 'cause of the money situation." She don't look too mad. I think she understands. I'm just gonna make sure. "Look, I was tryin' to say this while we were out there walkin', but here's the deal: I'm gonna look out for ya. You and me, we're a team now and money, stuff, all that, that's for the both of us now."

That didn't come out exactly as smooth as I wanted it to. And I dunno what she's thinkin', if she wantsta stick with me or not. I kinda think yes, 'cause I did make her pretty happy in bed. I always got that goin' for me. That's a good mark on my side, at least. And she needs somebody to look out for her. Here she is seventeen, a mutie, all by herself - Marie's smart and I bet she sees the practical side of havin' me around. Well, she's smilin'. That hasta be a good sign, right?

"OK." Yeah, she's on board with the plan. "But what are we going to call our team? All the good names are already taken - the Bears, the Panthers, the Rangers, the Canucks, although, technically speaking, that one is not applicable since I am not a 'canuck' per se"

"You're cute, you know that?" That got a big smile. She liked that a lot.

"You sure you don't want nothin' else?" I think she got enough. And I don't think I got too much food, no sir. She ate the soup, the salad, some of my stew, coffee, steak, bread, fries, apple pie and a coupla bites of my cherry pie. She musta been starvin'.

"If I eat one more thing, I'll explode."

"You sure? No more pie or nothin'?"

"No. Marie go boom." I don't think the walk hurt her too much. Food - that'll cost about $50 what with all the stuff we got and the tip. We got enough money for a motel tonight if we wanna do that, and I know what she said 'bout motel mattresses bein' nasty, but we ain't got the camper now and we kinda don't have another choice. We can get a new car tomorrow. Well, a used car, but - "Logan?"

"Sorry. Thinkin'."

"About me exploding?" Damn, she is cute as hell.

"No. 'Bout gettin' a room for the night and then gettin' a truck in the mornin'."

"Sounds good. But what, pray tell, will we do to occupy ourselves all night?" Pants gettin' uncomfortable. Gotta have her soon. Good thing it's a small town and not too far to the motel.

"I got a few things in mind." Maybe a repeat performance of some of last night - I know there were parts she really liked, and we can do those all again. A few new things. I'm gonna just love teachin' her stuff. I can -

"Hello." What the hell? Dammit. Shoulda been payin' attention. How'd I miss two freaky-ass people in leather comin' in and comin' right over to our table?

"Go away." That usually deters most people. Well, most people with half a brain.

"My name is Scott and this is Ororo. We'd like a word with you and your, uh.."

"Wife." OK, I know we didn't get married and I can't see his eyes underneath those stupid sunglasses, but I get the feelin' he's checkin' Marie out and that's gotta stop right there.

"Wife?" Yeah, dickhead. Those glasses screwed on so tight your hearin's shot? "Ah, I see." Fucker's still checkin' her out, I bet. "I'm sorry, our information was that you were a - a - somewhat of an exotic dancer."

"Your information? What the hell's goin' on here?"

"We would like a word with you." White-haired chick has some kinda accent. Weird. Or maybe she just talks funny. "May we sit down?"

Now, I dunno what the hell is goin' on with the dominatrix and the pervert that keeps checkin' out Marie, but it can't be good. And approachin' us like this - the whole damn restaurant's gotta be starin' - that ain't too bright.

"Logan?" Marie, askin' me to answer the dominatrix chick.

"We're outta here. Go play with your whips and chains or whatever you people do." Fifty oughta cover the food, and we're gone. I can smell that Marie's gettin' a little scared. But if they are gonna try somethin', I don't wanna let the claws out in fronta the whole restaurant. We'll just go and if they follow and attack us, I'll lead 'em into an alley or somethin' and take care of business.

"Whips?" Look at the pervert, playin' like he's never heard of that shit. What kinda person wears head to toe leather, huh? "I, ah, believe there may be a misunderstanding."

Whatever. "Don't follow us." Just gonna put Marie in fronta me and get us out into the street. Just gonna let her know what's what. "Just keep walkin', darlin', and if they pull anythin', I'll handle it." Don't wanna make her use her skin again. "Just head up the street. If I remember, three blocks up is the motel. Just go." Noddin' and not lookin' back. Good girl.

"Wait - wait - we just want to talk with you." Dominatrix lady ain't givin' up. Shit. "You are in grave danger. We were sent to help you."

"Yeah, right." Just like the last mutie - hey! I bet that's what their deal is - they're muties. Huh. Wonder if they have some kinda thing that makes them need the leather outfits.

"Magneto is after you. You need help." Pervert. Tryin' to sound all authoritative and confident. Not gonna work as long as I'm downwind from ya and can smell the nervousness.

"Just keep goin', Marie." Noddin'. We're almost there. I can see the motel. If they follow us in - well, if they follow us in, I'll hafta escort 'em back out. Dammit, I woulda liked to keep a low profile, you know?

"We mean you no harm. We - we are the x-men." Yeah, and I'm the Y-man. As in why the hell does this shit happen to me? "Please wait, we only wish to talk."

"Hang on a sec, darlin'." They wanna talk? Fine, they can talk from ten meters away and then they can leave us the hell alone. Gonna keep Marie right beside me just in case. "Whaddya want?"

"We - "

"Stay where you are. I didn't say to come over here, asshole. You wanna talk, talk." Hmph. He's still checkin' out Marie.

"We're here to help you. There's a very powerful, very evil mutant named Magneto that's after you, Wolverine." Fuckers. They know my name. "We'd like to offer you protection. We're prepared to offer you a safe harbor at our mansion in New York until the threat from Magneto passes."

Marie's just lookin' at me. I really don't have a reply to that. I mean, what kinda shit is that? "That's what you wanted to talk 'bout?"

"Ah, yes." Dammit - dammit - he's still lookin' at Marie!

"You know what I'd like to talk 'bout? Why you can't keep your goddamn eyes offa my wife's rack. Why don't we talk 'bout that, asshole?" 'Cause I've had just about all I'm gonna take of that.

"Yeah." Marie sounds a little pissed too. "And I'd also like to discuss why being an 'exotic dancer' means I can't also be married." She even stomped her foot a little. Aw. That's cute.

"I, ah, didn't mean to imply that - that dancers were prohibited from, ah - "

"Scott." Heh. The dominatrix is takin' charge of the situation. "Please, let us share with you some of the information we have about Magneto. I believe that after we talk, you will see the need for - "

"Shut up." Somethin's wrong. I smell somethin' - someone - and - shit!

"Logan!" What the hell was that? Somethin' just flung me inta the wall - the wall fifty meters behind me. Marie. Gotta get back to Marie but I can't - can't move. What the fuck?

"I see that I have arrived just in time." Is that guy floatin'? Flyin'? Gotta get to Marie - gotta! But I can't move!

"Stay away from him, Magneto. Stay away from Wolverine. I'll blast you if I have to." I dunno what the hell pervert thinks he's gonna do. Spank the guy to death?

"My dear boy, whatever made you think I was interested in him?" Wha - oh, shit! Marie! Marie! He's after Marie!

"MMMMMPPPPHHH!" Why can't I fuckin' move?

"There, there, my mutant brother. I shall bring her back. If she survives." Run, Marie, just run. Run! "You see - I - I - ah" Why does he keep wavin' his hand at the pervert? Is that some kinda pervert mating signal or -

"I'm afraid that's not going to work anymore. I've gotten a new visor, and you'll like this one, Magneto. 100% plastic." Whoa! He shot the guy with some kinda laser beam that came right outta -

"Oooof!" OK, wasn't quite ready for that. Dropped like a stone.

"Logan!" OK, Marie's close, Magnet guy is dropped. Time to get the hell outta here. "Logan, are you OK?"

"Yeah, let's go."

"Go where - we're - we're - "

"We've got a plane." Pervert guy. I guess he's laser beam guy now. "Let's go. Let's go now before some of his cohorts show up."

"Logan?" Marie's got a good point. Where the hell are we gonna go? And if that guy can freeze me like that - OK. OK, then.

"Where's this plane at?"

Big mansion - check. Lotsa leather-wearin' people - check. Mutants galore - check. Good old One-eye and his dominatrix buddy weren't kiddin' 'bout this place.

"It's weird here, huh?" It's safe, though, and now that I got Marie I gotta start thinkin' that way. She needsta be somewhere safe where the bad guys can't get at her so easy. One-eye (he sure didn't like that nickname but it's not like I give a shit) said that they're gonna take out Magneto and the big-ass furry one and 'turn them over to the proper authorities, of course.' I guess that'll do. I wouldn't be much good against Magneto and the other guy - well, he got the better of me once, and I think I could kick his ass in Round Two, but I can't take any chances with Marie.

"Yeah, it is weird. You just stick close to me, OK?" The only thing I really gotta worry 'bout here is One-eye. And he'd just better stop lookin' at Marie.

"Well, it's my understanding that that's what wives do." Heh. Wonder when she'd say somethin' 'bout that.

"I didn't want that asshole to get the wrong idea 'bout you. He was checkin' you out like you were the first woman he's seen in months. 'Sides, you're - you ain't quite legal yet and if they think we're married, that might save us a whole buncha trouble."

"Ahhh. I see." She must be OK with it if she's straddlin' my lap like that. Good thing this bed looks sturdy. "So you married us in the diner and this would be, what? Our honeymoon?"

"Could be, darlin'." Yeah, let those dumbasses go out and fight what's-his-name. I'll stay right here with Marie. "It's been too long since I touched ya."

"It hasn't even been 24 hours." Vixen. Little tease. Look at those pouty little lips.

"Don't even mention that, darlin', I don't think I could go that long." Heh. She's squirmin' around a little now, tryin' to get me goin'. It's workin' pretty good. "Lemme take your top off." So cute how she still blushes a little. Time to teach her some new things. "Rock your hips, baby, just like that."

"Like this?"

"Y-yeah." That's good. That's seriously good. That's *damn* good.

"Logan." God, I love that little moanin' voice of hers. Gets me so -

"Ahem." Huh? "Sorry to, ah, interrupt." Fuckin' One-eye. Wonder how long he was standin' there, watchin' naked Marie. I'm gonna hack somethin' off for that. Marie's hidin' behind me so he don't see her topless - good.

"Hey! Don't you knock, asshole?" Heh. Marie gets feisty sometimes. "I'm naked!"

"Yes, well, my apologies for interrupting, but we need to talk." Christ, what is it with these people? They talk more than fuckin' Oprah. "It seems that we can't verify your marriage and, ah, under the circumstances, we, ah, feel that it would be best for Marie to have a separate room from - "

"Get out." Like I give a shit what they think. There's no separate room for Marie.

"Unmarried couples don't ordinarily share a -"

"Get. Out." Claws are gonna pop in a second.

"Scott?" Smell someone in the hall. A woman. Smells..medical? "Is that you, dear? Are you - oh, hello." Dear? Dear? Well, it seems good old One-eye already got himself a woman. Wonder how she'd take to knowin' that he was lookin' Marie over. "I'm Jean Grey. I'm Scott's wife. Pleased to, ah, meet you. Have we - did Scott catch you at a bad time?" At least this one's got enough decency to notice that she interrupted somethin' private.

"Yeah. Now, get out."

"As I was saying, we feel that under the circumstances you and Marie should - "

"Yeah, well I feel that under the circumstances, namely, you havin' a wife and Marie bein' mine, that you should stop sneakin' peeks at her rack."

"Scott!" Heh. Nope, Mrs. One-eye didn't like that one bit.

"I'm doing no such thing, Jean, I swear - I - I - "

"How could you look at another woman?" Oh yeah, good and pissed now. You can tell just by lookin' at that one that she's temperamental. Looks like the type that's always bitchin' 'bout somethin'. Which would mean I can understand, in a guy way, why he'd go checkin' out other women. But if she's his wife, that ain't right, and in a I'm-the-guy-that's-got-Marie's-rack-all-to-himself way, it fuckin' pisses me off. "And here you are, always accusing *me* of flirting! Well, you can sleep on the couch tonight, mister!"

"She looks mad." Little Marie-whisper in my ear. "Was he really checking me out that much?" Just gonna nod. One-eye's still standin' there, jaw dropped open. And now he's lookin' back at Marie. Don't this guy ever learn?

"You know, it's not that I, ah, don't appreciate that you like my boobs, but, really, I'm not an exotic dancer or whatever you thought, so whatever fantasies you might be having along those lines - they're just not even going to remotely happen. I'm happy with my husband. And, you know, even if I were an exotic dancer, I'd - it's still not OK for you to just walk in to my bedroom and look at me while I'm naked." She said that pretty sure for someone who's got her top off and hasta hide behind me. And I bet that *was* it - him thinkin' she's a stripper or hooker or somethin' like that - it probably got him goin', thinkin' Marie was that way. Somethin' a little more excitin' than what he's got at home.

"Yes, of course not. I, ah - "

"And it's really not our problem that you can't confirm our marriage - we only met and - and got married a few days ago, so I'm not surprised. But the bottom line is that we're sharing a room here. If that's not OK with you, well, I guess we'll have to go somewhere else."

"Damn straight, darlin'." I kinda think they want us here more than they're gonna worry 'bout two unmarried people sharin' a room. Seems like it's important to them to keep us away from Magneto, real important to whatever little plan they got to stop him.

"Fine. And Marie - " Grrrr. Don't like hearin' his name off her lips. " - I do apologize for the misunderstanding about your - your profession before and for any impression I might have given that I have a lascivious interest in you. I really - I really want you to feel comfortable here." Sounded like he meant that. And I can already tell that Marie feels kinda sorry for givin' him a bad time now. "I'll leave you two alone. Sorry."

You know what? He ain't gonna get away with that - pullin' that 'I'm a sincere guy' crap. That's the oldest trick in the book and it's just another way to try to get Marie. I'm goin' after him and I'm gonna make sure he knows what's what.

"Logan?"

"Hang on, darlin' - be right back." Just gonna shut the door behind me so nobody can sneak another peek at Marie. "Hey, One-eye."

"I have a name. It's Scott. Use it." Uh-huh. And fuck you too. "What do you want? Did you come out here to tell me to stay away from your girl?"

"If I hadta do that, she wouldn't be my girl. Besides, she don't go for leather-wearin' geeks. But yeah, now that you mention it, why dontcha stay the hell away from her? That way I won't hafta gut ya."

"My optic beam would put you down before you even got close." Oh, so we're gonna be that way, are we?

"Why don't we find out, hmm?" Just gonna let the claws out a little. Asshole don't know who he's dealin' with here. "I don't think Red'll notice if you don't come home tonight."

Huh? All of a sudden, his whole expression changed. All the asshole went right outta him. "She wouldn't notice any night." Somethin' is definitely up between him and his wife. "Look - I am sorry if I made Marie feel uncomfortable."

"Uh."

"Why don't you head back? I'm sure she's waiting." And there he goes. No fight. No fight at all. Damn, I was primed for a good one. But he's right. I got a naked Marie waitin' for me. That's better than a fight any day.


End file.
